Coin display page

ABSTRACT

A coin display card, or page, is formed of a transparent sheet of plastic material, embossed to define a plurality of coin receiving recesses which open towards one side of the sheet. A second sheet is operatively connected to that side of the embossed sheet and has apertures therein located adjacent the recesses in order to permit insertion of a coin through the apertures into the recesses where they are held by the second sheet. The embossments in the first sheet permit one side of the coin to be viewed while the peripheral edge of the embossment permits the entire peripheral edge of the coin to be viewed.

United States Patent 1 Peterson Oct. 21, 1975 i l COIN DISPLAY PAGE [76] Inventor: Everett A. Peterson, 113 St. Marks Place, Roslyn Heights, NY. 1 1576 22 Filed: Jan.11,1974

[21] Appl. No.: 432,696

[52] [1.8. CI 206/.83; 206/.84 [51] Int. C13. A45C 11/28 [58] Field of Search 4. 206/.8, .81, .82, .83, 206/84 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,428,498 10/1947 McWilliams 206/.83 2,457,998 1/1949 Hayes et a1. 206/.83 2,571,073 10/1951 Stroop 206/.83 2,626,098 1/1953 Blendinger 206/.84 3,100,567 B/1963 Levy 206/.82 3,302,773 2/1967 Weir et a1. 206/.83 3,782,537 1/1974 Segel 206/.82 3,797,649 3/1974 Ringle 206/.82

3,822,782 7/1974 Ringle et a1 206/.83

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 11,610 7/1901 United Kingdom 206/83 Primary ExaminerWilliam 1. Price Assistant Examinerl0seph M. Moy

Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Lewis H. Eslinger; Alvin Sinderbrand [57] ABSTRACT A coin display card, or page, is formed of a transparent sheet of plastic material, embossed to define a plurality of coin receiving recesses which open towards one side of the sheet. A second sheet is operatively connected to that side of the embossed sheet and has apertures therein located adjacent the recesses in order to permit insertion of a coin through the apertures into the recesses where they are held by the sec- 0nd sheet. The embossments in the first sheet permit one side of the coin to be viewed while the peripheral edge of the embossment permits the entire peripheral edge of the coin to be viewed.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 Sheet 1 of3 US. Patent 0a. 21, 1975 Sheet 2 of 3 3,913,732

U.S. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,913,732

com DISPLAY PAGE The present invention relates to coin display cards or pages, and more particularly to a coin display page for albums and the like which permits the edge of the coin to be viewed.

The collection of rare and precious coins has long been an active hobby and investment field for large numbers of people throughout the world for many years. In recent years, in fact, the number of numismatists, both amateur and expert has substantially increased. As a result, many numismatists, in addition to simply collecting their coins, prefer to mount the coins in such a way so that they can be readily displayed and conveniently viewed when desired.

Unfortunately, previously proposed and commercially available, mass produced display albums for coins simply consist of a hard paper or cardboard page having a coin receiving recess therein which permits the coin to be placed in the recess and frictionally held therein by engagement between the edges of the coin and the edges or peripheral wall of the recess. Thus, such cards suffer from the obvious and undesirable defect that only one face of the coin is visible. In order for the collector to view the other side of the coin, the coin must be removed from the display card. Moreover, with such previously proposed cards, even to view the edge of the coin, the coin must be removed from the holder. It is noted that the configuration of the edge of the coin, i.e., whether the coin is milled or unmilled is an important consideration in the value of coins and therefore the ready availability of the edge for viewing in the display holder is also important to numismatists.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display card or page which will permit both sides and the edge of the coin to be viewed without removing the coin from the card.

Another object of the present invention is to display a coin in a holder so that the edge of the coin is readily visible.

Another object of the present invention is to form a coin display page which is relatively simple in construction and yet durable in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin display card or page which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture. The above, and other objects, features and advantages of this invention, will be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coin display page constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear plan view of the coin display page shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a reduced front plan view of the coin display sheet shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of a portion of the display page shown in FIGS. 4 and 1;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the segment of the display page shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIG. I thereof, it will be seen that a coin display page 10, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a plurality of pockets or embossrnents 12 in which individual coins are adapted to be placed for display purposes. The pockets or embossrnents I2 are constructed so as to permit one surface I4 of a coin to be observed through one side of the page and the opposite surface or side to be observed through the other side of the page. In addition, the embossrnents are so constructed as to permit the edge of the coin to be viewed by an observer without removing the coin from the page. Thus, as seen in FIG. 3, embossrnents 12 extend above the upper surface 16 of the page so that the edge 18 of the coin can be viewed.

As seen most clearly in FIGS. 6 and 7, the coin dis play page 10 is formed of three sheets of plastic material 20, 22, 24. Sheet 22 is formed of a translucent and preferably clear transparent and relatively rigid plastic material such as polyethylene, polyvinylchloride or the like. Such material is preferably thermoformable so that the sheet can be embossed or impressed by any conventional thermoforming process with a plurality of embossrnents 12. Preferably, sheet 22 has a plurality of embossrnents 12 formed therein in a regular array, although the invention is not limited to the specific array illustrated in the drawing and one or any selected number of embossrnents can be formed in the sheet as desired for a particular application or type of coin.

In any case, embossrnents 12 are preferably formed as circular members in plan having diameters corresponding substantially to the diameter of the coins to be mounted in the page. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 6, embossrnents 12 are fonned with a flat upper surface 26 which is located above and substantially parallel to the plane of sheet 22. The embossrnents are, of course, integral with sheet 22, so that each surface 26 is connected to sheet 22 by an integral peripheral side wall 28 which extends upwardly from the sheet. In this manner, each embossment forms a pocket 30 that opens towards the rear side 32 of sheet 22.

In order to hold coins in the recesses 30, the backing sheet 20 is operatively secured to the rear side 32 of sheet 22. Preferably, sheet 20 is formed of the same material as sheet 22 and is also translucent and preferably transparent.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, sheet 20 has a plurality of apertures 34 formed therein which permit a coin to be inserted into recesses 30. Each aperture 34 is defined by a pair of generally semi-circular openings 36 formed in sheet 20 to be located adjacent a recess 30 once sheet 22 is superimposed upon sheet 20. The openings 36 are constructed to be spaced from one another so as to define a band 38 of integral plastic mate rial in sheet 20, which band will span the adjacent recess 30.

Preferably, the edges 40 of openings 36 are complementary to the peripheral arc of recess 30 so as to permit free entrance of a coin into the recess. However, once the coin is placed in the recess, the integral band 38 holds the coin in the recess and prevents inadvertent removal therefrom.

Sheets 20 and 22 are secured to each other in any convenient manner. Preferably, however, the sheets are formed of a thermoplastic material so as to enable the sheets to be heat sealed to one another. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the heat seal is formed along the periphery 44 of embossrnents l2, and along the peripheral edge 46 of the sheet. Thus, a coin placed in a recess will remain in the recess and cannot enter or move from recess 30, into a position between the contiguous flat portions of sheets 20 and 22.

By this construction it will be seen that a coin placed in a recess 30 will have one side visible through the flat portion 26 of the embossment and its opposite side visible through the openings 36 and the transparent band portion 38 of sheet 20. In addition, the edge of the coin will be visible through the peripheral wall 28 of embossment 12. Accordingly, an observer looking at the coins would not have to remove the coins from their mounting in the display page in order to determine whether the edge of the coin was milled or unmilled. Moreover, the coin would not have to be removed from the display card in order for the observer to view both sides of the coin. This is a substantial improvement over previously proposed coin mounting cards and display pages, and thus avoids excessive handling of rare and delicate coins.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, page is provided with an additional sheet 24 secured thereto over the sheet 22. Sheet 24 can be formed of any convenient thermoplastic material and preferably is opaque. The sheet serves to provide increased thickness to the page and thus increased strength and durability.

Sheet 24 is substantially complementary in configuration to sheets and 22, and has a plurality of openings 46 formed therein which are complementary to embossments 12. Thus, the embossments 12 will extend through the openings 26 when sheet 24 is superimposed upon sheet 22, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Sheet 24 is secured to sheet 22 and sheet 20 by a heat sealing process in any convenient manner, preferably along the periphery of the embossments 12 and the periphery of the sheet. Thus, a heat sealed rim 48 is formed about each embossment 12, which not only secures sheet 24 to the other sheets 20, 22, but also serves to reinforce the page adjacent the embossment.

Preferably, sheet 24 is formed of an opaque plastic material so that only the areas of embossments 12 in page 10 are transparent. This forms a more pleasing and pleasant appearance for the display sheet and it sets off the coins in the embossments 12 so that the eye is immediately attracted to the coins. However, the sheet is dimensioned so that the peripheral wall 28 of the embossment is still above the surface of the sheet 24, as seen in FIG. 3, so that the edge of the coin is readily viewable.

Accordingly, it is seen that a relatively simply constructed coin display page is provided which achieves several desirable results. Namely, the coin display page of the present invention permits both sides and the edge of the coin to be viewed in the page without removing the coin from the page. In addition, since the display page is formed of a plastic material it is relatively inexpensive to produce, and is substantially more durable in construction and has a longer useful life as compared to previously proposed paper or cardboard mounting sheets.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the present invention has been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A coin display page comprising a first sheet of thermoplastic material having a plurality of translucent embossments formed thereon, said embossments each including a flat surface portion extending above the plane of said first sheet, parallel to said one side thereof, and a peripheral wall extending from said flat surface to the plane of said first sheet, thereby to define a plurality of coin receiving recesses which open towards the side of said first sheet opposite said one side; and a second sheet of thermoplastic material permanently heat sealed to said first sheet adjacent said opposite side thereof and having a plurality of apertures formed therein respectively located adjacent said recesses to permit insertion of individual coins in said recesses whereby access to said recesses is only through the apertures in said second sheet and one side of the coin in a recess is visible through the flat surface portion of the embossment defining the recess and the edge of the coin is visible through the side wall of that embossment; said apertures in said second sheet each comprising a pair of spaced openings in said second sheet defining therebetween a band integral with said second sheet and extending across its associated recess; said bank forming means for retaining a coin in the recess, while permitting insertion and removal of a coin into and from the recess.

2. The coin display page as defined in claim 1 wherein said embossm ents are generally circular in plan.

3. The coin display page as defined in claim 1 wherein said first sheet is formed of a transparent plastic material and said page includes a third sheet formed of an opaque plastic material operatively connected to the said one side of said first sheet and having openings therein which are complementary to and receive said embossments, whereby said page is only transparent at said embossments thereby to set off coins in said embossments from the remainder of the page.

4. The coin display page as defined in claim wherein said openings in said second sheet are generally semicircular in shape.

5. The coin display page as defined in claim 4 wherein said sheets are each formed of a transparent plastic material.

6. The coin display page as defined in claim 5 including a third sheet formed of an opaque plastic material operatively connected to the said one side of said first sheet and having openings therein which are complementary to and receive said embossments, whereby said page is only transparent at said embossments thereby to set off coins in said embossments from the remainder of the page.

7. The coin display page as defined in claim 6 wherein said sheets are all heat sealed together.

8. The coin display page as defined in claim 7 wherein said first sheet is formed of a thermoformable material and said embossments are thermoformed 

1. A coin display page comprising a first sheet of thermoplastic material having a plurality of translucent embossments formed thereon, said embossments each including a flat surface portion extending above the plane of said first sheet, parallel to said one side thereof, and a peripheral wall extending from said flat surface to the plane of said first sheet, thereby to define a plurality of coin receiving recesses which open towards the side of said first sheet opposite said one side; and a second sheet of thermoplastic material permanently heat sealed to said first sheet adjacent said opposite side thereof and having a plurality of apertures formed therein respectively located adjacent said recesses to permit insertion of individual coins in said recesses whereby access to said recesses is only through the apertures in said second sheet and one side of the coin in a recess is visible through the flat surface portion of the embossment defining the recess and the edge of the coin is visible through the side wall of that embossment; said apertures in said second sheet each comprising a pair of spaced openings in said second sheet defining therebetween a band integral with said second sheet and extending across its associated recess; said bank forming means for retaining a coin in the recess, while permitting insertion and removal of a coin into and from the recess.
 2. The coin display page as defined in claim 1 wherein said embossments are generally circular in plan.
 3. The coin display page as defined in claim 1 wherein said first sheet is formed of a transparent plastic material and said page includes a third sheet formed of an opaque plastic material operatively connected to the said one side of said first sheet and having openings therein which are complementary to and receive said embossments, whereby said page is only transparent at said embossments thereby to set off coins in said embossments from the remainder of the page.
 4. The coin display page as defined in claim wherein said openings in said second sheet are generally semi-circular in shape.
 5. The coin display page as defined in claim 4 wherein said sheets are each formed of a transparent plastic material.
 6. The coin display page as defined in claim 5 including a third sheet formed of an opaque plastic material operatively connected to the said one side of said first sheet and having openings therein which are complementary to and receive said embossments, whereby said page is only transparent at said embossments thereby to set off coins in said embossments from the remainder of the page.
 7. The coin display page as defined in claim 6 wherein said sheets are all heat sealed together.
 8. The coin display page as defined in claim 7 wherein said first sheet is formed of a thermoformable material and said embossments are thermoformed therein. 